Dinosaur Sighting: Star-Spangled Theropod

Today's Dinosaur Sighting comes to us from David Rice, who spotted this star-spangled theropod dinosaur in the vicinity of Beloit, Wisconsin. As David pointed out in his e-mail, the top half of the dinosaur is reminiscent of a tyrannosaur, but the feet have weird lumps which look like the sickle claws of the "raptors;" maybe it is some kind of hybrid. Whatever the theropod is meant to be, though, it is hardly the only patriotic dinosaur around—in previous posts we've featured a Stegosaurus covered in stars and stripes and "George Washasaurus."

Have you stumbled across a dinosaur in an unexpected place? If you have, and have a photo of the encounter, send it to us via [email protected]!

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.